“He’s a lad you wouldn’t be togging out beside when you come back to training in January.”

Conor Fogarty meant business on Sunday. Conor Fogarty always means business.

A bout of Glandular fever over the winter kept the Erin's Own club man out of Kilkenny's National League campaign up until its closing stages. He may not have been ready for game time but he was still putting in the hard slog in the gym and out on the training pitch. Renowned for his fitness and dedication, the durable midfielder made his return in the semi-final against Wexford and he looked like a man at his peak. That was no coincidence, it should have been no surprise. On Sunday, Fogarty again appeared as a second half substitute and he made his mark once more. The secondary school teacher put the final nail in the Tipperary coffin when he darted onto a breaking ball around the half forward line and surged for goal leaving the Tipperary defenders trailing in his destructive wake. He went on to rattle Daragh Mooney's net. Just look at that for power, look at that for explosiveness, look at that for passion. https://twitter.com/officialgaa/status/983010154949103618 He's back now. Kilkenny legend JJ Delaney wasn't surprised to see his former teammate return in such good nick. Delaney is well aware how committed Fogarty is to his sport.

"Conor had glandular fever there during the League. He's only after coming back there, the Wexford game was his first game to tog out in. Obviously, he's been back in training a couple of weeks before that," said the Kilkenny legend on Thursday's GAA Hour Show. "He'll get a club game under his belt now next weekend, too, so he's hitting the ground running at the right time as well.  "You could see the two games when he came on, he made a huge difference down in Wexford Park. He won dirty ball there as well, I'd never call Conor Fogarty a goalscorer now, but when he got on the break there he took off and he left Brendan Maher for dead."

That comes from the training, it comes from the hard yards he puts in, it comes from his hunger to represent Kilkenny.

"He's probably been watching over the last few weeks, Kilkenny going well, he wants to be out there. His body language is huge, he sticks out the chest when he comes on. Conor Fogarty is 100% focused on winning the game for Kilkenny. "If you asked Conor Fogarty to go over and step on the corner flag to win a game for Kilkenny, he'd go over and do it."

Conan Doherty was blown away by the former UL student's athleticism and strength.

"Pure power, directness, the finish was unbelievable, he's been so wired the last two games that he's come on. He's been bouncing around the place like a gazelle, you're wondering, is this boy even coming back from an injury? You can see the veins and muscle bouncing off his thighs when he's running back out the field," he said.

That's always the way with Fogarty, who puts the rest of the panel to shame when training resumes every January.

"He's the sort of lad you wouldn't be togging out beside when you come back to training in January.

You can listen to this chat and much more from Monday's GAA Hour Hurling Show. https://soundcloud.com/sportsjoe-gaa-hour/tjs-magic-tipps-problem-and-premature-bubbles